My Testimony

If George The Animal Steele after the life style that I lived as a WWE superstar can find peace in JESUS CHRIST, so can you.

Looking through the rear view mirror of life I see how GOD was in control. I now have a real PEACE in my life. As we worked on the book ANIMAL I was a bit embarrassed as I looked back at my life. I was talking about my overcoming of many challenges. I started to realize that my ego was getting in the way of the truth. I was just living life and GOD was always in control. I could not over come any thing without JESUS.

Because of JESUS my life gets better everyday. I never understood salvation and did not believe I was worthy of Jesus love. My life change June 16 2002. With GOD all things are possible. MARK 10:27

Looking back at how the POWER of JESUS CHRIST has touched me in the last twelve years is humbling.

I was brought up as a Baptist. I was sprinkled in Baptism at seven. As an eight year old, I was told that God built the earth and everything on it in six days and rested on the seventh day. I was also told that I was just like God. I looked around and knew that I could not repeat God’s miracle. Next I was told that if I sinned that I would burn in hell. I had probably already stolen some bubble gum. I figured that I was damaged goods. I never understood salvation.

I walked on the edge most of my life. I never broke any of man’s laws. I never served time. I was in many fight situations as a teenager. I had a learning disability in the forties, fifties and sixties before dyslexia was understood.

Athletics kept me in school and close to the right road. I have had many blessings and I now truly believe that our God had a plan for me. Negatives have seemed to always turn into positives for me.

Athletics opened the doors of opportunity at Michigan State University for us. I was married to Pat and the father of Felicia as I entered M.S.U. in the spring of 1956. Between Roy Niemeyer, my enrollment officer, and my wife, Pat, I was able to earn my Bachelor of Science degree.

Teaching and coaching was a great opportunity to reach out to so many people. Not just students but parents and others in the coaching profession. I was not yet prepared to give the real message.

Wrestling put me in front of millions. Again I took to the fast track and did not understand how good God had been to me and my family. I was so self centered that it is now embarrassing.

It took ten years of a life-threatening disease to get my attention. The support of my wife, family and so many others was critical, but I still did not really get it. I did a 911 and shut down in the hospital. I truly believe that God had bigger plans for me. That is why I have been cured from Crohn’s (which Modern medicine says there is no cure for) and now have great health.

I received an e-mail from a wrestling fan, Todd Curcio. To this day I can not believe how simple it was. Todd simply asked me if I had accepted THE LORD JESUS CHRIST as my savior. I said no and Todd asked me if I would mind if he sent me a couple of books to read. About the the same time out of the blue, John Randolph, a minister in our family sent me a book to read. I finally started to get what I had missed as an eight year old.

I said to Pat “let’s go church shopping”. We decided to start at a Baptist Church to eliminate it and move on. God was there to show me that the church was not the problem but that I was.

The day that we visited the First Baptist Church Merritt Island we were surprised to see so many young people. That was good; we both like to be around young people. We also really liked the minister. There just happened to be a young gospel singer from Australia giving her testimony that morning and a concert in the evening.

The following Tuesday was 9/11/01. After crying with the rest of the nation, it was back to the First Baptist Church Merritt Island. What happened there just blew our mind. We live in Cocoa Beach, Florida, commonly referred to as the Space Coast. The First Baptist Church Merritt Island was filled and many were in the military. What a powerful day in my life.
We continued to go to the First Baptist Church Merritt Island for about nine months. and finally decided to join First Baptist Church Merritt Island and were baptized on Pat’s birthday, June 16th, 2002. We joined a Sunday school class that has been a real blessing for us. I am sure that God has a plan for us. I am not sure what it is. When the timing is right God will lead us in the right direction and we will be prepared.

Two months after we accepted The Lord Jesus Christ as our personal Savior I met Carl Kirby. Carl is very involved in the creation movement. Carl provided the foundation that I needed. I now understand THE BIBLE is the history of the world from the beginning of time.http://www.answersingenesis.org/

My life has been up lifted by simply accepting THE LORD JESUS CHRIST as my savior. I am working on living with faith. I have a motto “let go; let God handle it”. I am learning and I love it.

GOD BLESS
Thank You Carl Kerby

21 Responses to My Testimony

As I have read through your website, I praise God for the work that He has done and is doing in your life, brother! As someone who came to know Christ as a teenager (I am now 31), I always praise God when He reveals Himself to His people at different times and in different ways. Your story connects in so many ways! My wife and I both hold Masters Degrees and she is a Special Education Teacher in Allentown, PA. I work for Goodwill as a Store Manager in Fogelsville, PA. As you may know, Goodwill’s mission is to help people with disabilities and other barriers to independence reach their fullest potential as workers and as members of the broader community. In addition to managing my retail location, we invite students and other individuals with disabilities the chance to come work in our store to gain job training and experience to help them learn the necessary skills they need to earn their own paycheck. My wife and I have both had the opportunity to work with many people with physical, developmental, and learning disabilities and have certainly seen that when people are simply given an opportunity to succeed, the possibilities for them are endless…your story certainly proves that theory correct! If we would all look at people for what they can do instead of the things that they cannot do, we would all be so much better off! It is also life-changing as a believer to see people as God sees them!

I have noticed that you will be appearing for an autograph signing on June 1, 2013 in Allentown, PA before you go to another event later that evening. If I may, I’d like to share the story of my family’s year so far in 2013. My father was diagnosed with Prostate Cancer in January and had surgery to remove his prostate on February 18. Thankfully, all has gone well and smoothly and he has been deemed cancer free. He has returned to work with no limitations and has gotten back on his Harley as well! While he was recovering, my mother was talking with a surgeon about work she needed to have done due to weakness in her left arm and hand and pain in her leg. She will likely need three surgeries to fix all of the issues; the first of which was this past Tuesday, which was on her neck/upper back where they inserted screws and plates. Incredibly, my mom was awake, alert, talking, and eating some solid food the same day of the surgery! She will likely be coming home later this week, praise God! I firmly believe that it was the hand of Jesus Christ that has given my entire family a positive outlook through these tough times and helped the hands of all the medical staff do their jobs well! The day you will be signing autographs in Allentown, June 1, will also be my father’s 60th birthday. Obviously this birthday is very special because of it being his 60th, but also because a few months ago, we weren’t sure if he would see it due to his cancer diagnosis. Since my mom will still be recovering from her surgery, I am not sure he will be able to make it to come meet you in Allentown. I know you were one of his favorite wrestlers “back in the day”, and I know that your schedule might be tight that day since you have another event, but I was wondering if we could arrange for you to come meet my parents at their house after the signing in Allentown (they live 3-5 minutes from the place you are signing) and wish my father a Happy Birthday…he would love to meet you and it would make this special birthday all the more special! I think your story of coming to faith would further inspire him as well! Please let me know if we can arrange this. If you are unable, I completely understand and I would simply get him an autograph at the signing as I should be able to make it out. Keep me posted! I look forward to hearing from you and meeting you on June 1!

Looking forward to Horror Realm this weekend George and hope to meet you in person. Great website and I especially enjoyed your testimony. It is amazing how patiently God will wait for us, we spend a lot of time searching for silver that leaves us empty inside when Gold was right under our nose all the time. It is like the agnostic flea — he did not believe there was a dog.
My own testimony is not a revelation like it is for others. I grew up in a middle class home with a Mom and a Dad. My Mom was a special lady but my Dad was and still is at 88 the unusual one. He contracted Polio at 8 months old. After many operations he was able to walk with crutches. He spent several Christmases in the hospital, he fondly recounted one Christmas stay because a man next to him taught him to play the harmonica. Christmas in the hospital and you have a fond memory of it, that is my Dad.
He never cursed his situation and always had an unshakable faith in God. I have always been thankful for the little things in life, have an unconditional faith in God and due to my Dads example, self pity is not in my vocabulary.

I had one of those whatever happened to moments about you, and went to google. I found your website and was very happy to find out you are a brother in Christ! God bless Todd Curcio, and God bless you and yours!

Just a quick note to say ‘Thank you’ for your testimony. It is inspiring, and I can see the presence of the Holy Spirit working in your life.

I’ll leave you my own testimony, as I see you have asked others to do. I was born into an Air Force family and moved around alot as a kid. We attended the Salvation Army and were heavily involved. When my dad retired we settled in Lowell, MA, where I went through HS and eventually went to college, earning a BS in Environmental Science. During my senior year I met my wife-to-be, the daughter of our new corps officer (pastor). Through her I gradually came to the realization that I had been play-acting for many years but had never really given myself to the Lord. I did so and began growing spiritually by leaps and bounds! My wife and I were subsequently called into ministry and now serve as pastors of the Champlain Valley Church of the Nazarene in St. Albans, VT. Our ministry over the years has been churchplanting and revitalizing dying churches.

Like you, I have struggled with IBD. I was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis a couple years ago, which has caused many issues both health-wise and otherwise. I, too, have been on Prednisone, then Remicade and now Humira. I adhered strictly to the SCD diet, to no avail. But we are told that ‘I can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens me’ (PHIL 4:13), so I live by His promises. He has never let us down, and He never will!

May the Lord continue to bless you in your life and ministry. I look forward to meeting you someday, if not here on earth, then in Heaven as we both sing our praises to our Lord!

It is obvious to me that you have received Christ into your life. So many professional wrestlers have had “problems” in their lives and met death sooner because of it. We know that God has his time for us to depart this life, but we do not need to “help” speed up the time by our actions or behavior. You are well grounded and have been a blessing to those who have been blessed to know you.

I must tell you that after reading your testimony and learning more about your two personas, I am even more of a fan than I used to be. God does work in our lives if we let him. The older I get, the more I pray and the more I rely on his guidance and assistance in my daily life. As we know from Macho Man’s tragic accident, life is so fleeting, we must be thankful for every day we are given. I wish for you and yours all the best that life can give you!

Stavro I can tell this one thing for sure. GOD works in his own time. We as Christians can only open doors. Only JESUS can save people. Every time a friend dies that has not accepted Jesus as his personal savior it gets harder. Come back often and be part of the on going conversations. ENJOY!

For as long as I can remember, our Heavenly Father has always been in my heart. I believe that because without HIM, I wouldn’t be here today to type this out. There were times in my early teen years that I’m sure I tried his every nerve and wore out my fair share of Guardian Angels, but HE NEVER gave up on me and I never gave up on HIM!

For 5 years, starting in the 5th Grade, HE put many health challenges in front of me (and my family – GOD BLESS them!) I won’t get into all of that, but I will say that PRAYER WORKS!!!

One moment that really cemented my FAITH happened in Sept. of 2004. My friends and I took a late Summer trip to the Outer Banks of N.C. After a few beautiful days of sun and fun, we got word that a tornado was on it’s way. Well, that didn’t keep us from wanting to get in as much beach time as we could. On the last day, we should have know someting was going on because there was NOBODY on the beach.

Kids, don’t going swimming in the ocean when nobody else is around! The water was warm and the waves were beautiful! Guess who jumped in! within seconds, I found myself 20, 30 then 40 yards away from the shore.

After swimming every way I knew how to get back to shore and not getting anywhere, my body told me it was just about worn out. It was hard to breathe and my arms and legs were ready to quit. At that moment, I began talking to my Angel and praying to our FATHER.:

“LORD, if this is my time to come home, I’m ready! It’s been a good run and I thank you for every BLESSING you have given to me. If this doesn’t have to be my time, that would be a blessing too! I love you LORD and I’m ready for whatever you have is store for me!”

With that, my breathing eased and my body felt no pain. For some reason, I turned from the shore to out to sea and at that moment, the largest wave I have ever seen in person hit me and before I knew it, I was on the beach right beside my friends.

Just thinking about that day brings wonderful chills to me. I’m not sure what HE has in store for me but I do know that our GOD is an AWESOME GOD! PRAYER WORKS!!!

I have found that alot of former wrestlers have become Christians and been born again. I think that is awesome. I am glad that you know the Lord and he knows you. Thank you for doing what you do, amd most of all not being afraid to put it out there.